Angelina County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 34-year-old
Diboll man for allegedly using gas cards from his former employer, Alexander
Electric, to steal more than $3,200 worth of gas for his personal vehicle.

Jason Paul Diets is still being held in the Angelina
County Jail on a state-jail felony charge of theft between $1,500 and $20,000.
No bail has been set at this time.

According to the arrest affidavit, the owner of
Alexander Electric made an employee theft report with the Lufkin Police
Department on April 21. Gary Alexander told police that Diets was fired for
making unauthorized fuel transactions to buy gas for his personal vehicle while
he was in La Porte, Texas on April 3.

Alexander caught the unauthorized transaction
because the fuel charge was in an area that Alexander Electric had no ongoing
work. As a result, Diets was fired and required to turn in his company Fuel Man
card.

When the company did an audit on its fuel account,
officials found unauthorized purchases on Diets's fuel card dating back to Feb.
25, 2012. Alexander provided copies of the unauthorized fuel charges to the
Lufkin Police Department.

"Most of the charges were made on Saturdays and
Sundays with some charges made after work hours during the week," the affidavit
stated. The unauthorized charges totaled $2,961.86. Alexander also told police
that after Diets was terminated on April 18, an additional $411.05 in fuel charges were charged between
April 21 24. Of that amount, $292.30 was spent on fuel purchases at Lufkin's
Fuel City. The rest of the $411 was spent in Jacksonville, Ark, and was not
included in the total cost listed in the affidavit: $3,254.16.

According the affidavit, Diets allegedly said he
made the charges the Lufkin Fuel Stop by mistake and denied make any fuel
purchases in Arkansas. Then, on April 1, Diets allegedly brought an Alexander
Electric Fuel Man card that gone missing from one of the company's vehicles. The
car was used in some of the unauthorized gas purchases made after Diets was
fired, the affidavit stated.

Diets reportedly admitted to using the Alexander
Electric fuel cards for his own personal use.

According to the affidavit, Diets wrote in his
statement: "I freely admit using fuel cards from Alexander Electric for
personal use … As for all the times I'm accused for, I can't say they were all
me, and I can't say they weren't me."

In the wake of an incident in which the driver of a Ford Explorer allegedly almost backed into a Lufkin PD patrol unit while he was fleeing a traffic stop Monday afternoon, the police department will be seeking a warrant for his arrest.

In the wake of an incident in which the driver of a Ford Explorer allegedly almost backed into a Lufkin PD patrol unit while he was fleeing a traffic stop Monday afternoon, the police department will be seeking a warrant for his arrest.